Above: Professor Callinicos is pleasantly surprised at the Special Conference’s entirely unexpected outcome

(Après nous le déluge -JD):

FAO the Central Committee of the Socialist Workers Party We, the undersigned, are writing to you to inform you that we can no longer remain in the Socialist Workers Party. The organisation’s tradition of fighting women’s oppression has been seriously undermined by the handling of a number of rape and sexual harassment allegations by the Disputes Committee and the Central Committee and the crisis of democracy and accountability in the party this has laid bare.

The SWP leadership has done everything it can to silence members’ genuine concerns on the matter including: · Expelling four comrades for discussing concerns about how the rape allegation was handled · Gerrymandering and abusing bureaucratic measures in conference, aggregates and district meetings; · Sitting back whilst the Central Committee supporters have bullied the complainants, their supporters, and any member of the opposition.

We are not prepared to accept or abide by the decisions of the special conference. The conference is a bureaucratic victory which will only lead to the demise of the SWP. The reputation of the SWP in the movement is irreparably damaged as a result of the handling of these complaints by the Disputes Committee and the leadership’s determination to protect one member rather than to develop a clear perspective on rape and consent.

The SWP leadership have utterly failed to uphold the organisation’s core principles of women’s liberation. This is corrosive to the party and thus it is not in spite but because of our commitment to the struggle that we feel forced to leave in order that we can remain committed socialists who can build militant activity in our workplaces and communities. We will not put the party before the class, or the organisation before our principles.

We stand in solidarity and comradeship with those who remain in the party and attempt to save it, but we can no longer do so.

We realise others have left already since January Conference and many more will leave in the coming days and months. All are welcome to add their names to this statement, please email swpresignation@gmail.com

See also Soviet Goon Boy, who seems to be a very dissident SWP’er (now, presumably, ex-SWP’er):

“And so it is that the rigged conference has taken place, the leadership has secured its victory (though it may well be a Pyrrhic victory) and the opposition has been crushed. Rage and despair will be the natural reactions; however, it’s a good time to pause a moment and take stock.”

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8 Comments

Does this (below) mean that “celebrity” SWP-apologist Michael Rosen can take no more?

“re ‘recently’ – right from the off, I thought that the CC and the DC were not appropriate people or groups or institutions to handle this matter. Why they thought they were is wrapped with their view of democratic centralism (not mine). Mistakenly, I guessed that they would get to that position themselves. I’m wrong about most things re left organisations, partly because I have never accepted that that’s the way to run things, and partly because it gets so like the Borgias I lose interest. However, I’ve tried to keep a sense of the bigger picture beyond what the committees and factions and splits are doing. I’ve probably been wrong about that too.”